Pault17

Darn straight Frosty. I have a separate drum with locking lid out back for mine

I got the same pop-up but clicked on the "close" button and read through the article. pretty good and a much smaller versoin of what I do. 55-gallong drum with holes in the bottom. when fire is going good and smokeless (this means hot) I bury the bottom and put a lid on it. Lid has a 2 inch hole in the center. when the smoke comes out looking like playdough I lite it with a zippo and watch the fire from st. elmo. when that goes out I cap the hole and let it go for a day. I have a 55 gallon drum full of useable charcoal after a weeks worth of burning. very low maintenance. just make real sure that the coals are out when you put them in your storage container. if there is even a little ember in there, the next time you open the lid you will have nothing but a pile of ash. Don't ask me how I know.

Frosty. I usually rotate the gas lineout of the way, lay a slab of plywood down and put a five to ten gallon slack tub on it, very stable:D

Darn. you may not be a George O'Keefe but you got the blade making down

I've actually had the safety talks with him. die had Sin over the house several times to work in the smithy. I just haven't told him about the forge as yet. Here are a few pics: components, partially assembled, forge, almost ready to burn. Crude, I know

I am in the process of building a bigger than mini gas forge for a nephew that has expressed an interest in banging iron. I have already given him a little 2-pounder cross pein and a set of channel-locks (I didn't have any tongs readily available). He managed to scrounge up a short chunk or RR rail and a bench vise. The forge is a section of 6-inch really heavy wall pipe cut off of a section of parking bollard (those pipes stuck in the ground at wally world) with 1/8 inch plate on the front and rear. I welded a piece of 2-inch angle on front and back to create a shelf, as well as to allow the forge to be rested on stacked CMU's. The pipe is lined with one inch of ceramic batting, coated with 2 layers of satanite and one of itc-100. I specifically designed the forge for use with the bernzomatic JTH7 or similar. The bottom is lined with 1-inch firebrick. I also fabbed up a portable stand from some 1-1/4 light-gauge square tubing so the thing is stout but reasonably portable. on the main tube I put a ring and stand that will hold a "coleman" style stubby 1-lb bottle of propane. I am bringing it up to him this weekend, hopefully, along with a small collection of random length 1/4, 5/16, and 3/8. I know it's not a thing of beauty or art, but it works. I even warned his parents about it a little:D As soon as I download 'em, I will post pics

Hey Banjoe, why don't you go into your User CP (top left of the screen) and let us know where you are. That sounds like a really nice score. congrats

Stan, I had the hardest time finding the shaklees stuff and went with a bottle of "jetdri" - same idea. It is really neat when a redhot piece is quenched...the metal squeals like a little piggy

amen Fe-ood. and THAT is the eternal catch...

Stan, not a bladesmith yet, but with spikes, even if you have HC spikes, the carbon content is not high enough to need tempering. I would even suggest quenching in superquench and leave it be. paul

after my first day in a basic stick class I could do better. I showed my teacher the picture and he all but blew a lung

Darn, just when I was all ready to make a round accordion bellows. Metal muncher -thanks for starting this one up. this is a little more up my woodworking alley. Frosty, I like the space sawing vertical Idea to-thanks for thinking out loud.

thanks all for the guidance. as soon as I get the garage cleared out a little, I will try it out. I have about two or so feet of square bar to work with, so I can experiment a little

All, I have a piece of 7/16 copper square rod that I wanted to use a sectio of for a finger guard for a dagger. My intention is to slit and drift the opening for the blade, but wasn't sure how to go about it. should I anneal it first? pre-drill the slit and just drift it? split and solder two pieces together? thanks, paul

Amen Frosty. I hear this debate alot in my small area o practicing smiths too. Most chastise anybody that even wants to consider themselves a smith, or even try to learn, if they don't get themselves a "real anvil" first. If you don't have access or fundage for a "real anvil" but still have the desire to learn, or better yet, don't even have access to decent scrap or salvage yard to pick up an appropriate massive chunk of metal, Rail is not as difficult to aquire.. Plus, it is easier to shape into an ASO (I did mine with a 4.5 inch grinder with this cutting discs) and is easier to practice on if your space is limited. I am still hoping and praying that someone will drop a HOFI anvil on my doorstep and shout "Merry Christmas", but till then I will continue using my russian HF POS with glee. Oh, yeah... when a friend expressed interest in trying out smithing, I GAVE him a ready-made 56 lb RR ASO that he was able to put right to work. He has not complained once. rant off:cool:

good score on the hammer. it seems like you are short-siding the hammer to anvil ratio (being only 1-to-3). Will the base make up for this?

Someday I will have the contacts and funds to get a "real" hand-cranked blower, but I was looking for some "home-grown ingenuity" and read this article: http://www.fastonline.org/CD3WD_40/JF/JF_VE/SMALL/04-110.pdf if you go to the bottom half, you can make your own that should work okay till you can properly outfit a shop. (thanks again Ruben for the link). Every time I read through this thing I keep seeing a new offshoot for te famous 55-forge

Rub

Rub

Jmercier, I am not trying to 'jack your post, but was unable to find the one I was looking for. But, this followed (in my head) what you are asking about. being a man of scant pocket change and also looking for a useable portable demo forge that is vaguely period, I chanced upon this image in an old Google on-line book. I have seen this before in the forum but after reading through post after post, I have to jut ask: has anybody built or aquired one of these? I am thinking and currently working on making on to fit an IFI special 55 forge with side blast - unless I can make it an up-blast, but with the circular double on the underside. thoughts? thanks in advance and again, sorry for 'jacking paul p.s. please move this elsewhere if need be